T.I.A.

T.I.A. stands for "This Is Africa" which means more than the obvious. T.I.A., according to my sources, is a term some Canadians coined to refer to the different standards of life in specifically Kenya, but I think the sentiment holds true for the rest of Africa as well. Things just move more slowly here... Africans focus on the actual "event" that is to take place and not the "time" it's meant to occur. There's also an unfortunate tendency for there to never be enough of or even the right thing of what you were expecting. I over-generalize here, and take a biased position as a privileged American, but really, in Africa, more often than not you should assume that you're going to use Plan B.

And so I do. Especially regarding Tirrim Secondary School.

Plan A: School starts today for the Form 2 class.
This goes according to plan, despite the confused conversation between school admin. at 6 PM yesterday about a rumor that school was actually starting on Friday.

T.I.A.

Plan A: Students have all their personal textbooks handed out to them on January 3.
Plan B: Students will now have to share certain texts in groups of 2-4 because either there wasn't enough money to buy 33 books and/or the book company gave you 25 books for Form 1 instead of Form 2.

T.I.A.

Plan A: You will start teaching the Form 2 English curriculum on January 5, 2009.
Plan B: You will review last years material for 1 week because a third of your class is still in transit from their villages to school due to bad weather.

T.I.A.

Plan A: You will be teaching students who are more or less fluent in English.
Plan B: You will be teaching students who can speak the English language but can barely understand basic grammar, listening comprehension, and note taking skills (bless their hearts...)

T.I.A.

Plan A: The principal of the school will be there to facilitate the First Day inaugural activities.
Plan B: The principal of school is off campus all day for a meeting and you have to take one of his classes.

T.I.A.

However, I can joyfully and honestly say that all this barely phases me now. It's part of life in Africa, and now that I know how to inversely plan the events in my daily routine, my American demands for immediacy and absolute perfection all the time are being set aside. Besides it always seems to work in the end; like Timon and Pumba say in the Lion King, "Hakuna Mata," or "No worries."

To prove my point:

8 students came to school today after having walked all night from a town a 3 hours drive away.

The kids are very adept at sharing school supplies.

Taking over another teacher's class really means you get 1 hour 20 minutes to teach your own subject.

And the best one: TIA. With everyone expecting the unexpected, you can become flexible merely by osmosis.

(Included at top is a picture of most of our students gathered in our living room for a "First Day Party." Second is John, our coworker and Maths teacher. Finally, a picture of Alicia and I with our little backpacks ready for school to start!)